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News Posted on August 4, 2017

Professor Soucek Interviewed on Trump and Gay Rights by Public Radio International

Professor Brian Soucek was interviewed on the KCRW/Public Radio International show To the Point and discussed LGBT rights under the Trump administration with host Warren Olney. As a presidential candidate, Trump promised to be “a fighter” for gay rights, but recently called for the banning of transgender individuals from the military, and the Justice Department filed a brief in federal appellate court arguing that it is legal under federal law to fire people for being gay or lesbian.

“It’s a complete change of course,” Professor Soucek said of the administration’s stance.

Previous administrations had never explicitly made the case that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was prohibited under the Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act, but the Obama administration’s position seemed clearly to be supporting that position, Soucek said. He also talked about differences in circuit court interpretations of Title 7 and sexual orientation and said it was “incredibly likely” the Supreme Court will take up the issue at some point in the near future.

Professor Soucek holds a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD from Columbia University. He has clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Mark. R. Kravitz in Connecticut, and Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His primary teaching and research interests are antidiscrimination law, civil procedure, constitutional law, and refugee/asylum law.

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